A Cayman island insurance company that is 25 percent owned by Butterfield Bank moved this week to counter a story that aired on CBSMarketwatch almost two months ago.

The September 16 report quoted an A.M. Best analyst who said that Hurricane Ivan?s costly strike on September 12 ?may be too much for three local Cayman firms: Island Heritage Insurance, British Caymanian Insurance and Cayman General Insurance.?

Island Heritage took out newspaper ads in all of the Caribbean regions where it does business to inform clients that it is still business as usual despite Hurricane Ivan?s estimated $1.2 billion price tag for Cayman alone.

Company CEO Bryan Murphy told this newspaper: ?There was some very negative information about insurance companies in Cayman islands going around the Caribbean as a result of an interview that a former employee of AM best gave to CBS news and our advisors told us that the best thing to do was get our own message out there positively so we have done it in every island where we are licensed.?

Although Island Heritage does not do business here, the company also ran the ad in yesterday because it places substantial business with Bermuda-based reinsurers.

?We wanted our friends in the reinsurance community and Bermuda being extremely important part of that now to know that we are alive and well and doing business as before,? Mr. Murphy said adding that the ad included a telephone number to his office so people with inquiries could speak with him rather than speculate. ?It is rather like the situation in Bermuda when Fabian happened. People said how many companies would go bankrupt and of course the answer was none.?

Island Heritage records and systems are intact, but the company is temporarily holed up in the head office of Butterfield Bank Cayman because its own premises were badly damaged in the storm. The ad explains that the company was back in business immediately after the storm with adjusters on the island settling claims within 36 hours.

It said: ?Good contingency planning meant that millions of dollars flowed in to our Cayman office within days, allowing us to quickly settle claims.?

The CBS Marketwatch story named Colonial Group as a part owner of Island Heritage. Mr. Murphy says that this is totally incorrect? and in actual fact the only Bermuda interest is a 25 percent stake by Butterfield Bank.

?That article has become infamous in the Caribbean for its lack of accuracy. Colonial Group has no relationship with Island Heritage but they do have a significant shareholding in another local company here called British Caymanian Insurance Company.?